Spring cushioned upholstery



Sept. 27, 1932. HlLTON 1,880,137

SPRING CUSHIONED UPHOLSTERY Filed Oct. 8, 1939 Patented Sept. 27; 1932JOHN HILTON, or DUBLIN COUNTY, IRELAND seameousnronnn urnons'rnnrApplication filed October s, 1930, Serial No. 487,248, ma Great BritainOctober 16, 19,29.

This invention relates to improvements in spring cushioned upholstery,the object being to provide new combinations and construc-' tionsutilizing my flexible and thin tempered 5 steel laths with springsoutstanding on each side of the fiat surface of said laths as disclosedin my British specifications Nos. 282,259 and 284,501 p In the priorart, according to my British specification No. 104,787 the series oflaths with outstanding springs on either side of same are clearlyarranged to form a single framework with the ends of the lathe connectedto each other for this purpose and so form a mattress or a cushion forapplication to a fiat surface, but is not suitable for application toarticles having curved contours, and if applied to curved contours theabove framework would be noisy in operation and would be subject toundue strain and cockling or warping out of the desired shape whenapplied to a variety of contours or a combination of contours such as incozy corners or to arm chairs or other articles having curved contoursowing to the fact'that it forms a complete framework as above andtherefore does not permit of separate or independent operation of eachlath with its springs.

According to my present invention, to overcome the above disadvantagesand to insure that the desired contour will be given on curved surfacesor combinations of curved surfaces without undue strain or cockling orwarping of the laths with their springs and to insure silent operationof the same, the spring cushioned upholstering such as chair frame backsand cushion frames, lounges, couches, arm rests of same and box mattressframe tops embodying a base or support shaped to the contour of thefinished upholstery are combined with a series of thin and flexibletempered steel laths with springs of equal lengths on one side of sameand springs of equal lengths on the other side of same whereby the samearranged separately to form a series with their springs follow theaforesaid desired contours of said furniture 0 and are thereby adaptedto opeate silently on any desired contour, each separate tem- Fee:

pered steel lath having its opposite end-suit- V each separate lath withitsoutstanding springs'forms a separate unit which can be independentlyworked into any desired contour or combinations of contours, withoutbeing strained or stressed or made noisy by be ing connected to theadjoining lath with its sprlngs. g I

For box spring mattresses onwhich it is desirable to have a convexsurface, it is usual to fasten single springs together by twine in asuitable wooden frame and to tie down the springs with twine to get thedesired shape or contour. These connections break very quickly in useand exert an unequal strain on the springs so tied down; and accordingto my method of construction and arrangement it is only necessary tomake a box having its top curved to'the desired contour so that thetemperedsteel strips and their accompanying springs follow the desiredcon tour when laid on said top.

In the accompanying explanatory dia- 'grammatic drawing Fig. 1 showsaside elevation representative of a chair frame back or sofa back ofwhich a fragmentary front elevation is shown in FigQ. Fig. 3 shows afront elevation representative of a cushion frame or lounge or couch, ofwhich a fragmentary plan view 1s shown 111 Fig. 4. Fig. 5 shows an endelevatlon of an arm rest of same of which a. fragmentary plan view isshown in Fig. 6. Fig. 7 shows a plan view of a box spring mattress frametop of which an end elevation is shown in Fig. 8, all of the foregoingfigures showing examples of the application of said flexible temperedsteel laths to furniture constructed with the desired contours; and thesame reference numbers are used for the same parts throughout. Withreference to Figs. 1 and 2, a series of single or separate thin andflexible and tempered steel laths 1 have their opposite ends at 2suitably fastened or nailed to the back 3 so that the outstandingsprings 4 and the lath 1 follow the desired contour 5 of the seat backit being then only necessary to cover over the springs 4 in the knownmanner with suitable covering material indicated by 6.

With reference to Figs. 3 and 4 the seat is also provided with thedesired contour at 7 and with side protuberances 8 to which the oppositeends of the lath 1 are nailed at 9 so that the desired contour issimilarly given to the spring'cushioned seat which is similarly coveredover with suitable covering m material 6.

With reference to Figs. 5 and 6 the arm rest is similarly constructed tothe desired contour shown in Fig. 5 and is provided with protuberances10 to which the lath 1 is nailed at 11 so that the outstanding springsof thelath l and the lath itself follow the desired contour and onlyrequire tobe covered over with suitable material 'indicated by 6; andthe two-outermost springs indicated by 12 are preferably parallelbarrelsprings so as to clear the bases of the adjoining conical springs. A v VWVith reference to Figs. 7 and 8, the top 13 of the box spring mattressis shaped to the contour shown and is provided with side protuberances141 to which the opposite ends of the laths 1 are nailed at 15 so thatthe lath 1 and the outstanding springs 4t similarly take the desiredcontour and are similarly cov- Q;-ered over with material indicated by6.

The innermost bases of the springs a may be suitably nailed or fastenedto the contour 7 of the furniture, and these springs 4 are of equallength on one side of the lath 1 and are 5; valso of equal length on theother side of the lath 1, and their inner ends are suitably attached inany convenient and known manner to the lath 1.

Having described my invention, I claim In combination with springcushioned upholstery embodying a base support shaped to the contour ofthe finished upholstery, a series of separate thin and flexible andtempered steel laths with springs of equal ;;l-engths on one side ofsame and springs of equal lengths on the other side of same said lathsbeing arranged separately with their outstanding springs and adapted toform a series with their springs following the aforelpaid contours ofsaid furniture and being thereby adapted to form any desired contour,opposite anchoring parts arranged and secured on said furniture atopposite ends of the desired contours, the opposite ends of said flitthsbeing anchored to said opposite anchoring parts. a

Signed by me this 29th day of September,

1930. JOHN HILTON,

